Loki's Apiary

Reading: On Rachmaninoff's Birthday

2012-01-03T16:43:00.001-05:00

Tonight I'll be appearing in a private reading of On Rachmaninoff's Birthday, a three-act play by Alejandro Morales. I'll be playing Vladimir Nikolayovich Zubokov, a repressed Russian piano student in Leningrad in 1960, as well as the same fellow in Cuba, in 1989. I'm looking forward to it (even scraping the rust off my Russian dialect), as I like the script and have yet to work with Alejandro. I've met him through my association with Packawallop Productions. Communism: still bringing people together.

Packawallop: The Lounge Series

2011-12-12T10:10:00.003-05:00

Tonight I'll be playing Garrett Pruitt in a scene from Christina Gorman's play-in-development, Far From the Trees, as a part of the development arm of Packawallop Productions. You may remember Christina as the playwright of the last show I performed in, Sacred Ground. The Lounge Series are regular events in which The Pack presents some of what's been brewing for playwrights in their regular meetings. I was fortunate enough to join The Pack last year by invitation and support from Christina, Josh Sohn and Laura Pestronk. It's a tremendously supportive group that doesn't shy away from honesty in its feedback, to boot.

Garrett is a nice role, from what I've read - I wish I could play him out in his entire arc. He's a disenfranchised doctoral candidate in astronomy, stuck back at his tiny home town after a terrible research mishap that cost his family plenty. In the scene we get to play tonight, he antagonizes a young researcher who's come in search of some petrified trees his uncle recently discovered on his land. It's fun, and tactical, and pithy. He's kind of a prick. Like I said: Fun.

Reading: Princess

2011-10-24T11:07:00.003-04:00

A year-and-a-half ago I performed in a short play called Princess, by Jason Schafer. It has been expanded into a screenplay, greatly revised, and yet somehow I'm still involved! In tonight's reading - free and open to the public - I'll be playing Heath, a father of a different stripe than the one I played back in 2010. The details:

Princess
@ The Soho Playhouse (15 Vandam Street between 6th & Varick) at 7:00 pm.

CAST:
Ben Curtis ... North
Liz Douglas ... Marina
John Gardner ... Ace/Dean
Shira Levin ... Screen Directions
Michael Gnat ... Pappy/Pastor Bob/Policeman
Ian Scott McGregor ... J.J./Griffin
Heidi Schreck ... Gretchen
Jeff Wills ... Heath
Amy Wilson ... Sarah

Reading: The Memory Play

2011-08-03T11:27:00.000-04:00

Tonight I'll be participating in a developmental reading for Josh Sohn's new full-length play, The Memory Play (not sure if that's a working title or not). I'll be playing Gabe, the one whose memories are ostensibly at play in the action as he hashes through some romantic history with the dubious assistance of those who were involved. It's exciting to continue working with Josh, to be privy to his development as a playwright over a course of years, and in varying roles. And hey - you can attend, if that's your interest. Please email me so I know you're coming. Everything's kicking off at about 6:30 here:

Pearl Studios, Room L
519 8th Avenue, 12th Floor
New York, NY

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Reading: Summer Night in a Goldfish Bowl

2011-07-22T06:11:00.018-04:00

This Monday evening I'll be participating in a reading of Summer Night in a Goldfish Bowl, by John Watts. It's a story set in Newark on the eve of the 60s, and I'm personally celebrating the fact that we'll be using dialects; that doesn't always happen for a reading. I'll be playing Michael, a middle-aged father traumatized by war. The reading will be held at the historic Players Club just off Gramercy Park.

Sacred Ground

2011-06-15T11:07:00.000-04:00

"Rehearsing a drama about abandoned babies" is the answer to the question where on earth I have been for the past month. I play Father William, a young, newly appointed Catholic priest suddenly in charge of a very large congregation. Tomorrow, Thursday June 16th, is an invitational dress rehearsal for Sacred Ground, Friday is preview, and Saturday is opening. It runs every night except Sundays, at 7:30pm, until the 30th. Some more details:

The Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company presents SACRED GROUND by Christina Gorman, directed by Shelley Butler, at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting (31 West 27th Street, Floor 2).

Former socialite Genevieve Barrows spends her days gardening in the church cemetery at the graves of abandoned newborns, while her church pastor and the local police sergeant keep a protective eye on her as she doggedly pursues her daily task. When a guileless young woman invades the trio’s turf, her presence threatens to upend their uneasy alliance. Inexplicably drawn to the cemetery, these four unlikely sentinels clash over grief, law, secrecy and redemption. Featuring Sarah Lord*, Angela Vitale*, Jeff Wills* and Noel Wilson. Presented in conjunction with the Actors Equity Association of North America.

It's a good play, and a nice chance to re-team with Christina Gorman, with whom I worked on As Far As We Know. Tickets available here.

Robowar

2011-04-12T09:51:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I began upon an epic adventure: Acting in a mock-buster. Mock-busters, for those of you at all outside of this obnoxiously hyphenated lingo, is a low- or micro-budget film that borrows heavily from other films. They're not actually trying to mock said films - that just kind of happens when you're trying to do Avatar, for example, while funding it with your Discovery card. Anyway, the working title of our little science-fiction epic is Robowar (which I badly hope gets changed) and I play Rathbone, a brass-polishing former space mercenary. It's being directed by Andrew Bellware through his company, Pandora Machine. Did I mention there's no money? Did I mention it is ridiculously fun? We film over the next few entire weekends, no idea how long it will take to produce, but in the meantime there are photos.

Reading: Various Shorts by Nat Cassidy

2011-03-07T09:29:00.000-05:00

Nat Cassidy; evil genius.

Tonight I'll be reading various roles in several short plays by friend-o-mine Nat Cassidy. The plays are mostly under ten pages, and all in one sense or another address intimate relationships. Love, in most cases. I'm not sure of all I'll be doing, but I know one of the characters is a really sweet, romantic guy who has to confess to the girl he just hit it off with that he tracked her down after seeing her in a pornographic video. So, you know: really mainstream, middle-America type stuff.

NYU: Festival of New Works

2011-03-06T09:11:00.008-05:00

Today I'll be performing in a reading of Jeremy Greenberg's screenplay, Song of Zion, at NYU. The script tells the story of a young Hasidic man who discovers punk culture and comes into conflict with his community and its expectations of him. I'll be playing the young man's older, estranged homosexual brother, who finds him once he's growing away from their family and religion and urges him to turn back. Conservative, I can do. Properly pronouncing Hebrew . . . we'll just have to see . . .

Circus: Valentine's Day Shows @ STREB S.L.A.M.

2011-02-10T11:51:00.001-05:00

Photo by Virginia Wills,
featuring Megan Heflin.

Tomorrow the wife and I will embark on more original aerial silks performances at STREB, this time in the "adult" shows with a Valentine's Day theme. You can read a bit about my past performance in the venue and my plans for this weekend's over at the Aviary. I'll be performing my own choreography, playing a lonely travelling businessman caught in the rain and missing his certain someone. The shows will start at 10:00pm Friday and Saturday nights, which is rather a bit later than I'm accustomed to strenuous exercise, but I expect sheer panic will keep me spritely.

The Puppeteers: A Wonderful Weirdness in Oz

2011-01-21T11:22:00.012-05:00

Image compiled by David Zarko.

This weekend my first production as a director with Zuppa del Giorno - The Puppeteers - opens. You can buy tickets here, but why do that before you've had a chance to check out some of the development first? Our process outside of the rehearsal room has been recorded on a 'blog: http://thepuppeteersproduction.blogspot.com/. Check us out!

Speaking to the Dead

2010-12-02T06:51:00.000-05:00

www.dougbeasley.com

Tonight we open Sharon Fogarty's Speaking to the Dead at TheatreLab. The show has a very limited run from tonight, December 2nd through Sunday the 5th. Details may be found below.

This is in many ways a kind of workshop production - with no formal set and simply thematic costuming - but Sharon has worked and developed her script to the point that it's an entertaining hour of comedy and music. It's also the first musical I've been in for almost ten years now, and in spite of my best efforts I have been afforded the opportunity to sing a solo in it. Just a little one, right near the end. I play a gameshow host with a duplicitous approach to the world who learns how to be true to himself when he falls in love with the ghost-whisperer that's the star of the show.

Speaking to the Dead

A new comedy by Sharon Fogarty
Dec. 2-4 @ 8:00pm & Dec. 5 @ 2:00pm
$18 - tickets available at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/790185

Featuring: Tony Di Sante, Kaira Klueber, Sarah Ecton-Luttrell, Matthew Porter, Danny Stix, Renee Torriere, Karen Christie-Ward, T.D. White, Jeff Wills & D. Zhonzinsky.

Reading: The Widow Ranter

2010-11-12T16:04:00.027-05:00

Tomorrow I get the opportunity to redeem myself for a reading I had to miss last year, by participating in the latest reading of it. I'm talking about a developmental reading for Adrienne Thompson's The Ranters, based on the play The Widow Ranter, by Aphra Behn. The reading is closed and for the purposes of further revision, but Adrienne (whom I know through my work with NYU's playwriting division) has been collaborating with Karen Carpenter on the script, so I'm excited to see how things go. I'll be playing someone well out of my range - the 60-something Colonel Junius Ranter - but that's fun stuff too. I like bluster; especially the English variety.

Reading: Closure

2010-11-07T15:51:00.017-05:00

I'm posting after the fact, and radically pre-dating, in the interests of keeping my involvement in a play that's still in development discrete. I swear it's that, and not me being behind on my posting. Honest.

Tomorrow, November 8th, I'll be participating in a developmental reading of James B. Nicola's latest script, Closure. (You may remember James as the director of a reading I participated in earlier this year: Joseph Warren.) The reading is for feedback and revision purposes, but will also be before a small audience to harvest responses and critique. It's difficult to explain my role without betraying some mysteries of the plot, but suffice it to say that I will be tested in my dialect flexibility and accuracy - I'll be going for Cockney, Brooklyn, and a tongueless chap in addition to my plain ol' normal (somewhat) neutral dialect. Wish me luck!

Reading: The New Me

2010-10-16T09:16:00.024-04:00

Today I'm reunited with several people through work of Artistic New Directions and a playwright, Margo Hammond. I participated in a developmental reading of her play The New Me back in October of last year, and now I'm back in a different role - that of the private investigator who develops a romantic interest in his suspect. This reading also reunites me with Princess and Laid Plans director Kay Long, and occasional NYU pal, Christa Kimlicko Jones. It's at 7:00 pm Sunday at Shetler Studios.

Circus: Halloween Shows @ STREB S.L.A.M.

2010-10-15T13:04:00.021-04:00

Tomorrow my wife and I will perform our aerial silks routines for two shows - 3:00 and 7:00 pm - as a part of Streb lab's Halloween performances. Our slots are the children-appropriate ones, but there's also a couple of burlesque circus shows at 11:00 pm Friday and Saturday evenings. This is my silks debut, and I'll be doing a comic piece of my own devising that features a supposed circus strongman (handle-bar mustache and all) trying to get at a glowing pumpkin that's way up on the ceiling. Call Streb S.L.A.M. for details: (718) 384-6491.

Zuppa del Giorno: The Puppeteers, Meeting #1

2010-10-01T12:34:00.012-04:00

This weekend we'll have the first cast-inclusive collaborative meeting to discuss direction for Zuppa del Giorno's new production slated for January 12th: The Puppeteers; or, In Spite of It All. Over the course of the weekend we'll discuss story elements, explore potential characters, and maybe even train a little at the kind of expansive physical comedy the show will undoubtedly incorporate. We'll go in blind, and come out a little less blind and with germs that will hopefully infect with enthusiasm.

Reading: Speaking to the Dead

2010-09-29T12:27:00.015-04:00

Tonight I'll be participating in a reading of a new one-act musical by Sharon Fogarty entitled Speaking to the Dead. I'm connected to Sharon through various friends stemming from Manhattan Theatre Source, including Daryl Boling and Jason Grossman, with whom I recently worked on Love Me. This reading is a sort of introductory rehearsal for a brief run as part of a festival going up at the start of December, and I'll be playing a game-show host who falls hard for the psychic featured on said game show (played by fellow Love Me alum Kaira Klueber). It's fun, and doesn't require me to sing, just fall down a lot.

Training: Corporate Role-Play

2010-09-28T12:18:00.021-04:00

Tomorrow begins a string of days throughout the month of October during which I will be serving as an actor facilitator for Bi-Jingo's corporate training program (see 8/10/10 for details). This series won't be stated here in full posts, just because it would get ridiculously repetitive (all right - MORE repetitive than usual). The dates I've booked are September 29, 30, October 5, 13, 22 and December 7; there's also a possibility of pick-up dates in November. All of these dates will be working with a different company and format than my first assignment, which is encouraging, as is the fact that I've been entrusted to act in an opening scenario and lead a brief analysis of the scene afterwards. Great work if you can get it.

Zuppa del Giorno: Welcome Meeting

2010-09-25T12:09:00.018-04:00

Today is the first of many meetings to lay groundwork for the upcoming original Zuppa del Giorno comedy. We're working with an entirely new player this time - Elizabeth Hope Williams - and so I'll be meeting briefly with her to give her some context before we start tossing around ideas. We'll look at photos from our past shows, discuss her experience and generally fill in any gaps she may have as it pertains to the commedia dell'arte. It's exciting to return to this work, and more story-development meetings are bound to crop up as the fall progresses.

Community: The Pack

2010-09-20T12:01:00.020-04:00

Tomorrow evening is the first meeting of it's 2010-'11 season of a collaborative feedback group I've been invited to join: The Pack. The Pack is a division of Packawallop Productions, a theatre company based here in NYC, and I was invited to join by former collaborators Josh Sohn and Laura Pestronk. I don't know exactly what to expect, beyond the fact that it's a group that fosters work from just about every role in the theatrical process - actors, playwrights, directors and more - and I'm eager to be involved in that kind of critical support again. Whatever its use to me may prove to be...

Workshop & Production: Marywood University

2010-08-29T11:49:00.020-04:00

Tomorrow I'm off to Scranton once again to co-lead a week's workshops in the commedia dell'arte for Marywood's undergraduate theatre students, all of it culminating in a performance of an original commedia play in the town square on Labor Day - La Festa Italiana. It's been two years since I participated in this annual course, and I'm very excited to get back to it. It's supported by the Electric Theatre Company in conjunction with The Portal Project, which works to integrate education with the community at large. This workshop is immensely rewarding every time, so I'm eager to return to it.

Workshop: Corporate Role-Play

2010-08-25T11:44:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow will be my first assignment through Bi-Jingo, and it is a doozy. Over the course of about six working hours, I'll play almost 15 different characters in improvisational conversations with managers. In addition, I'll be facilitating the discussion and analysis of techniques and approaches. Somebody will definitely need a nap afterward.

Training: Corporate Role-Play

2010-08-10T11:37:00.017-04:00

Tomorrow I'll be embarking on a new endeavor - working as an "actor facilitator" for a UK-based corporate development firm called Bi-Jingo. Tomorrow is a short event to introduce and practice their methods, with which just from reading I find myself in complete alignment. Facilitators role-play scenarios with managers, and those scenarios are framed around potentially difficult feedback conversations with employees or team members. The emphasis is on specificity, and keeping a balance between the task a person needs to achieve and one's relationship with that person in the moment. Great stuff; very curious.

Reading: Goldsboro (2nd read)

2010-08-01T11:32:00.002-04:00

This afternoon I will be at Manhattan Theatre Source participating in a second developmental reading of Nat Cassidy's new work in progress. Goldsboro is a play about mutants; mutants who need mutants (they're the luckiest mutants in the world). I'll be reading a different role this time, once with a great deal of humanity, which makes him the real freak in the environment.

Reading: Southampton Writers Conference, yet again

2010-07-27T12:50:00.004-04:00

This Friday the 30th I'll be returning to the SWC's playwriting division, this time on invitation from playwright Thomas Higgins. He's having a reading of his new play, Wild Animals You Should Know, in which I'll be playing an enthusiastic scoutmaster - Rodney - with a secret. (Said secret being the one you probably immediately imagined.) Joe Mantello will be directing the reading, which I confess is rather a thrill, and we'll rehearse for a few hours during the day before performing the invitational reading that evening.

Reading(s): Southampton Writers Conference

2010-07-26T12:30:00.003-04:00

More than a touch late on announcing this one, but since it's the sort of thing that requires ID badges (we need stinking badges) I don't feel too bad. From July 21st through the 25th I worked as an actor at the Southampton Writers Conference, with the playwriting division. This was in conjunction with the The Ensemble Studio Theatre, and involved working with all the playwriting attendees on their workshopping, as well as acting in two invited developing plays:

Tom Rowan's Burning Leaves; in which I once again played Matt Leland, a former NYC actor who moves to a midwestern town called Pittsville to teach high school theatre and discovers that work to be more personally challenging than he could have possibly expected.
Ben Rosenthal's Neptune Kelly; in which I played Edgar Thorne, another teacher, but this one from a small town in the Northeast who is coping with a recent, rather extreme decision he made for himself.

Stay tuned and hear what teacher I'll play next!

Laid Plans

2010-07-08T08:48:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, July 17th, I'll be appearing in Josh Sohn's short play, Laid Plans, which is being presented as part of The Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. The play is directed by Kay Long (with whom I recently worked on Princess), my fellow actors are Lucia Brizzi and Kristine Niven, and you can purchase tickets to this thirty-minute masterpiece at Ticket Central. Be sure it's for the 9:00pm slot on the 17th!

I'm posting this one a bit earlier because, apparently, room is limited and tickets are selling out fast. I know: That's the standard pitch. It's really truly true this time. That having been said, it is an Equity showcase, so my fellow AEA members can take that free-ticket gamble if they so choose. I'm excited about this one. It's a script I'm quite fond of, and Josh and I have been conversing about it in one respect or another for almost a year now. Plus, I'll be playing no less than five characters in it, which is a nifty reunion with my Zuppa del Giorno roots for me.

NYU: Film Department

2010-07-07T08:43:00.003-04:00

Tuesday afternoon I'll be working once again at the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television with one of the directing students on his "Sight & Sound" scene. Brewster - the director - is one of Gary Shimokawa's students who called me based on my work in Gary's class last week. I haven't gotten the script yet, but based upon my previous adventures in these situations, I know the process will be a very quick one.

NYU: Film Department

2010-06-30T11:13:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow morning I'll be working once again at the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television with the directing students as part of their intensive summer class. This time it will be working on one scene with Gary Shimokawa directing, in order to demonstrate to the students how everything should go on a shoot. The script, it seems, is from Monk, so there's some fun to be had there. Actually, it's pretty challenging to imagine my own "Monk" after how ingrained Shalhoub's interpretation has become for me. No doubt mine will incorporate quite a bit more onychophagia...

Teaching: Zip Zap Zop

2010-06-27T12:57:00.000-04:00

See 5/21/2010.

Teaching: Zip Zap Zop

2010-06-18T12:55:00.001-04:00

See 5/21/2010.

Love Me

2010-06-07T09:00:00.011-04:00

This Thursday a new comedy, Love Me, will debut at The Robert Moss Theatre as a part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Every show in this festival has a charity affiliation, and ours is benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York. It's a wacky comedy about a young man's search for love, and I play the physical embodiment of the young man's inner monologue, so there is much running about and falling over for yours truly. Buy tickets here.

Performance dates:

Thursday, 6/10 @ 4pm

Saturday, 6/12 @ 6pm

Wednesday, 6/16 @ 8:30pm

Tuesday, 6/22 @ 8:30pm

Thursday, 6/24 @ 4pm

Friday, 6/25 @ 8:30pm

Update: We've gotten some official responses to this zany comedy of comic zaniness. First, a glowing review in NYTheatre.com. Then, NY Daily News makes us an editor's pick. We'll try not to let the sheer fame go to our heads...

Teaching: Zip Zap Zop

2010-06-04T12:53:00.001-04:00

See 5/21/2010.

Teaching: Zip Zap Zop

2010-05-21T13:53:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow will be my first day teaching with the Electric Theatre Company's new educational outreach program: Zip Zap Zop. Heather Stuart and I will be up to our old acrobalance, improvisation and physical characterization tricks with a large group of high school students of various ages from around the greater Scranton community. The program goes on throughout June, but I'll only be teaching on select days; namely May 22, June 5, 19 & 28. This is the kind of longer-term educational curriculum I'm excited to explore right now, to see what can be accomplished with more time to develop relationships and absorb training.

NYU: Film Department

2010-05-20T13:47:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow morning I'll be working at the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television with the directing students as part of their "Sights & Sounds Studio" class once again. I'm thrilled to discover that Denny Lawrence has structured the day, so I know exactly what scenes to memorize and in what order I'll be expected to perform them. Plus, one is the ol' reliable extract from Glengarry Glen Ross, which is always fun: "Something to pay them back. Someone should hurt them." Ah, Mamet! You old so-and-so...

Reading: Joseph Warren

2010-04-19T12:48:00.006-04:00

This Friday kicks off three performances of a staged reading of a new play: Joseph Warren: A True Patriot. It's a drama by Robert Blecker, directed by James B. Nicola, and I'll be playing the titular character, an often over-looked major player in the early stages of the American Revolution. (Yes: That guy on the right there -- typecasting...?) The performances will be held at the New York Law School at 185 West Broadway on the following dates and times:

Friday, April 23 at 7:45pm
Saturday, April 24 at 4:30pm
Monday, April 26 at 6:15pm

Those wishing to attend should contact Jessa [jfarkas{at}nyls.edu] specifying which performance and how many seats. Let me know, too, so I can direct my oratorical prowess in your general direction.

The ACTion COLLECTIVE: ACT V, scene i - Physical Character

2010-03-31T11:56:00.000-04:00

(Ed. - You know, I continue to be a jerk; I forgot AGAIN about Loki here. Below is something I should have posted IN MARCH, but didn't [in spite of what the post date may claim]. Sorry, again. [LAME...])

Tomorrow we kick off The Action Collective's first in a series of workshops devoted to different aspects of character-building. I begin the series with a focus on physical characterization and methods for creating and integrating it into a variety of styles of theatre. It's an interesting exercise for me personally, communicating what I'm normally teaching to inexperienced or non-actors to experienced performers, instead. This series will consist of at least three "scenes," and will have an exciting guest artist or two, so stay tuned...

NYU: F%^&@d Up

2010-03-29T11:18:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow night I'll be playing a dad again (we are looking at my next two decades' worth of roles, here) in Olivia Peterson's full-length play-in-progress, F*cked Up (punctuation substituted by me). I play the father of the central character, who is a young woman with an alternate persona at her side whom only she can perceive. I get to flex a southern American accent in this piece, which is great fun for me and reminds me of some of my early professional experiences. As with most of these Tisch gigs, it is limited in attendance to those enrolled in the class, so you won't be able to hear my Dixie dialect if you're not a student and, for that, I am most sorry.

Princess

2010-03-22T14:44:00.000-04:00

This weekend begins previews for An Eclectic Evening of Shorts, the "Briefs" program, in which I'll be appearing in Jason Schafer's short play, Princess. I'll be playing a stay-at-home dad who finds himself in the difficult position of delivering some strange news to his over-worked wife. The show is bound to be good and fun, considering I'm sharing the stage with the lovely and talented Stacey Linnartz, and it's directed by one of my favorites, Kathryn Long. AEES is presented by Artistic New Directions, which I connected to through my work at NYU with Janice Goldberg.

Purchase your tickets here.

Teaching: City College of New York

2010-03-14T11:37:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow and Wednesday I'll be substitute teaching for Suzi Takahashi's "Body Movement" class. This is a class for actors and non-actors alike interested in exploring physical expression through a theatre-history context, and I always enjoy my time spent in it. It's a special treat to have two days in which to work with the class, because it means I'll be able to assign the observational "homework" we use in In Bocca al Lupo. The students, having had a cursory lesson in the Commedia dell'Arte archetypes, will bring into the second class their personal observations of people and construct a character around them. It's great integration, and great fun.

NYU: Graduate Playwriting

2010-03-02T09:42:00.005-05:00

What, again? Yes: Again. And with the same playwright, same story, no less:

"I'll be playing an extremely aggressive character trying to get a rather disturbing idea put into action."

The playwright has done some revisions, possibly extensive. I'm looking forward to working on the script again. It's not often that I play a hardened character such as this and, as we all know, half the fun in that is finding the cracks.

Reading: Goldsboro

2010-03-01T09:46:00.002-05:00

This evening I will be entering, for the first time, the esteemed Players club, in Gramercy, for a developmental reading of Nat Cassidy's new work in progress. Goldsboro is a play about mutants, which will surprise virtually no one who is already familiar with Nat's work. (When's that vampire play coming out, Nat? Vampires are HUGE...) I'll be reading the role of Jonathan, not a mutant (aw) but he has a tremendous rolling monologue that opens the play, and he's kind of a dick. So, you know: Fun!

NYU: Graduate Playwriting

2010-02-23T12:00:00.004-05:00

Tonight I'll be working once again with the NYU playwrights as part of their regular Tuesday night class. It's been rather a long time since I've done this, so I'm looking forward to seeing who's around (and who actually remembers me). I'll be playing an extremely aggressive character trying to get a rather disturbing idea put into action. I will, in fact, be playing at least twenty years older than I perhaps ought, due to being (I believe) a last-minute replacement. I like that about these venues; in the work-a-day acting world you have to aim for what people can see you as, but here the play is free.

The ACTion COLLECTIVE: ACT IV - It's All About You

2010-02-18T09:53:00.002-05:00

(Ed. - You know, I'm such a jerk somtimes; I forget about Loki here. Below is something I should have posted mid-month, but didn't [in spite of what the post date may claim]. Sorry. Sorry all. Sorry, Loki. Sorry...)

Tonight we kick off The Action Collective's first event of the new year: ACT IV - It's All About You, in which members of our esteemed actors will bring in their own short scripts, cast them in the room and after scant rehearsal, have them performed. It's terrifying, and it's going to be great. For this one we have booked the blackbox at 440 Studios, just to lend it that extra certain dramatic something. Pencils down -- it's time to perform...

NYU: Film Department

2010-02-01T12:01:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, all day, I'll be working at the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television with the directing students as part of their "Sights & Sounds Studio" class again. These are usually quite fun, but a full day is something of an endurance run, because the students are schedule back-to-back-to-back. I'll be bringing snacks. And I won't be sharing!

Oh all right; I'll share...

Directing: "Flowers" by Josh Sohn

2010-01-26T11:40:00.004-05:00

Last weekend a play premiered that I directed and co-produced! Why are you only finding this out now, you may wonder? Because I was awfully busy directing! But the play was only ten minutes long, so that's really no excuse. Sorry about that. Anyway, Flowers, by Josh Sohn, premiered at Where Eagles Dare Studios as part of their play lab program. It starred Nat Cassidy and Richard Grunn. It went well. That is all.

Update 8/12/10: Ooooo...there may be a strange new future for Flowers. Stay tuned.

the ACTion COLLECTIVE: ACT III - Nyuck Nyuck Nyuck

2009-12-17T10:35:00.005-05:00

Comedy tonight! Tonight at 8:00 The ACTion Collective has its third event, an evening of classic comic duos. Some of our favorite actor friends, old and new, will gather and hang out and then perform comic scenes picked at random. They'll have a choice after giving it a go: Choose a new scene, or give the same one another shot. But in either case, they'll be working with a new person. It's an exciting twist on the rhythms of comedy and the exchanges between actors working on their toes.

Reading: Web Series Pilot

2009-12-03T11:36:00.003-05:00

Tonight I'll be participating in a reading of a proposed comic web series into which I've been offering the tiniest amount of creative input. I can't get into it much here, on account of 'cause it ain't mine, but it should be an amusing evening. The proposal is a funny concept, written with humor as well, and most important: It has heart.

Workshop: City College of New York

2009-11-30T09:00:00.002-05:00

Today I'll be teaching a two-hour workshop in commedia dell'arte movement at the City College of New York. It's a "Body Movement" class, taught by Suzi Takahashi, with whom I've worked several times before. The class will have to be very cursory, but I plan to keep them moving almost the entire time and to continue to quiz them on the archetypes to which I introduce them. It's great fun; these classes are always a fascinating mix of actors, dancers and folks who have background in neither.

the ACTion COLLECTIVE: ACT II - A Tale of Two Screens

2009-11-16T16:21:00.003-05:00

Tonight the second event from the ACTion Collective will be held, at 440 Studios. Much is the same -- food and drink will be served and fun will be had by many an actor -- but this time, the challeneges are a bit different. We've extracted short scenes from screenplays and teleplays, and removed identifying details to that our actors can re-interpret them as they will. I'm really looking forward to this one; this time, Andrew and I may just get to play along...

Reading: Pierce

2009-11-15T14:00:00.003-05:00

Today I'll be participating in a staged reading of Nat Cassidy's latest play-writing extravaganza: Pierce, a ghost story that swirls around the titular American president. The reading is by invitation only at Manhattan Theatre Source, and I'll be playing young Daniel Asbury, a reporter for the New York Sentinel who gets entangled in the president's deteriorating psyche. At four acts and with over a dozen characters, it's likely to be a long one but, knowing Nat, also extremely funny and interesting.

The New Me

2009-10-26T11:12:00.003-04:00

Tonight I'll be contributing to an independent reading of a new play in development, penned by Margo Hammond. The reading will be directed by Kay Long, someone with whom I have worked a few times in the play-writing labs at NYU. The action of the play concerns itself with a mother and daughter who have suffered ill treatment at the hands of their husbands and who in turn decide to exact a little revenge. I, of course, will be playing the "Ken-doll look-alike" husband of the daughter. They can get me to slick down my hair, but I am not taping up my man parts. I'm Equity, dang it.

ACTion Collective: ACT I - Free Fun for Actors (On a Thursday)

2009-10-20T13:18:00.006-04:00

This Thursday evening, I'll be doing something a little different. In conjunction with fellow actor and all-around-great-guy Andrew Elliott, I've entered into creating a bit of a forum for actors and (eventually) other theatre artists -- a community where we can all learn about and from one another without the pressures of our usual theatrical environments. It's called the ACTion Collective, and our first event is an invitational reading of participant-submitted short scenes. Lots of my favorite people will be attending. There will be refreshments, libation and, with any luck, liberation. I'm very much looking forward to it.

NYU: Film Department

2009-10-12T14:05:00.001-04:00

This Wednesday I will return to Tisch's hallowed halls for another student project, this one filming all in one day. This constructed scene actually takes a comic turn, but hangs on to the poisoning element of my previous gig at NYU. Only this time, I am the poisoned one, and by "poisoned," I of course mean "unwittingly coerced into consuming excessive amounts of laxative." I'll avoid mentioning what particular sense memories I may or may not be using for this scene...

NYU: Film Department

2009-09-25T14:01:00.002-04:00

The Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television is certainly keeping me busy lately. Today I'll be back again for the first of a two-part filming of a student project. The second part is to be filmed on October 9th. The assigment is to make something out of an arbitrary section of dialogue, and this director has cast me as a poisonous murderer, with a conscience. Some of these gigs are more fun than others...

Update: The director of these pieces, Jonathan Hurwitz, has posted them online in two chapters:

Sunrise Motel: Part 1
Sunrise Motel: Part 2

NYU: Film Department

2009-09-15T11:28:00.000-04:00

Thursday and Friday mornings I'll be working at the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television with Denny Lawrence's directing students as part of their "Sights & Sounds Studio" class again. It's early in the year for them, and I'm not sure exactly what I'll be doing, but in the past the work has involved memorizing a script and performing it on camera in a variety of different ways for a variety of student directors. Great fun, and a good way to stretch around a bit as a film actor.

Reading: Our Country's Good

2009-09-13T18:30:00.001-04:00

SHHHHHHHH!
I'm performing in a super-secret reading, just about at this very moment, of Our Country's Good, by Timberlake Wertenbaker. I'll be playing Harry Brewer and John Wisehammer , and the whole thing is a surprise for the birthday of one Miss Cynthia Hewett. Cynthia played Amanda in the production of Glass Menagerie that introduced me to Pennsylvania audiences years ago, and it's a perfect reunion to be able to act with her once again.

Industrial: Lancer Insurance

2009-09-09T07:52:00.004-04:00

Once again, the good people at Lancer have hired me to help them out with what seems to be an in-house video. I'll be playing "Alex Mello," an insurance adjuster, today on location in Trenton. (I of course assume he is just exactly like Norton's character in Fight Club.) Interestingly enough, I also managed to hook up a friend, Jason Carden, with some work on this one. Have I found my calling as a premier, referral-based talent-management company unto myself? Only time will tell . . .

Special Event: Acrobalance at The Hexagon Project

2009-09-03T11:33:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow you can catch me and Heather Stuart performing and teaching acrobalance in Scranton, Pennsylvania. If you want to perfect your Angel, or Front Thigh-Stand, here will be a free opportunity! We'll be highlighting the importance of interdependence as a value for living . . . and for maintaining perilous poses.

In Bocca al Lupo 2009

2009-08-03T16:07:00.004-04:00

So we took another class to Italy in July. That's where I was for all of July. And I totally and completely forgot to post it. So . . . SURPRISE! I'm back, and it was an incredible event of directing, teaching, acting and collaborating -- truly the best we've had yet. In addition to that, Heather Stuart and I got to perform at the inauguration of a renovated amphitheater in Aquapendente. We adapted the balcony scene from our clown Romeo & Juliet, and got the audience laughing and sighing, even with the text all in English. An amazing adventure, all around.

NYU: The Maltese Falcon

2009-06-17T09:30:00.001-04:00

Denny Lawrence comes through with interesting work once again, this time with more of a performance twist than an educational one. On Friday I'll be filmed as Sam Spade (personal fantasy of mine, now fulfilled) in an excerpt from The Maltese Falcon as a part of Michael Bow's final project for Denny's Sight & Sound class. It should be a good time, and good reel material; Monday's rehearsal was a blast. It seems I missed my era, at least insofar as popular film genres go . . .

Hunter College: Commedia Workshop

2009-06-16T14:08:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow I'll be teaching a workshop in commedia dell'arte as a part of Sascha Just's Introduction to Theatre class. The plan is to spend the first half talking about the history of commedia and what follows from its traditions, and the second half bringing those traditions to life. This won't be my first Hunter workshop, but it is my first time working with Sascha, and it's exciting to make another educational connection.

The Dad Play

2009-06-07T11:41:00.002-04:00

Tonight I will be appearing in a staged reading of The Dad Play, by Kevin Podgorski. It will be presented at 7:00 at the LGBT Community Center, and you can catch me playing Kenyan, a man who discovers he has a better friendship with his partner's father than he does with his partner. The reading is done in conjunction with Orange Hanky Productions, and is directed by one of its founding members, Brian Olsen.

Camp Nerdly 3

2009-05-27T11:32:00.004-04:00

This weekend I'll be at Camp Nerdly. If you want to come improvise and story-game, sign up and then head down to Prince William Forest Park. For a mere $50, you'll be treated to what is essentially an uninterrupted session of potent creativity and collaboration. I'll be in Cabin Wererat . . . which is curiously, and perhaps not unintentionally, apt.

Steinberg Lab Readings @ Theatre Row

2009-05-08T09:00:00.005-04:00

This Monday, May 11th, I'll be appearing in several short readings as a part of an evening at Theatre Row. These excerpts developed out of readings through NYU's undergraduate play-writing program, the Steinberg Lab, in which I've been participating off-and-on through the school year. The program will begin 7:00 pm in The Clurman Theatre, and reservations are strongly recommended, as every friend and family member of the whole class is likely to be in attendance. You can make reservations by emailing the program here: bfashowcase {at} gmail dot com. It is destined to be a perfect venue for the short-attention-span-blighted such as myself. Boom! Drama! Boom! Comedy! Boom! Lyrical! Come out and have opinions!

NYU: Steinberg Lab

2009-04-29T11:50:00.002-04:00

Once again, I return to NYU to collaborate with their undergraduate playwrights, Adrienne Thompson and Janice Goldberg. Last week's session was not quite what I imagined (see the Aviary, 4/25/09, for some details) and that was exciting. This week I'll generally know what I'm in for, which allows me to be slightly better prepared and hopefully more helpful to the developing works, and workers. The whole effort culminates in public readings on the 11th, on Theatre Row. Stay tuned for details on that . . .

NYU: Steinberg Lab

2009-04-23T10:58:00.002-04:00

I'm looking forward to returning to Adrienne Thompson's class tomorrow; it's been months since I've had both the time and geographical proximity to do so. This visit will reunite me with Janice Goldberg as well, so I can only assume they plan to make use of my physical comedy skills in some capacity. That, I must admit, is part of the enjoyment of these labs -- never knowing exactly what I'll be in for.

Workshop: Swarthmore

2009-04-05T17:27:00.003-04:00

This Tuesday I'll be making a trip to Philadelphia, to teach yet another commedia dell'arte workshop. This time, at Swarthmore College. It will be fast, but sometimes that's the best way to learn such a physical craft. I'm excited to be teaching in a new place!

Update: This workshop has been postponed to the 14th, which is a great relief to me, as I find two things oddly stressful when I must do them in the rain: traveling & commedia dell'arte.

Workshops: City College of New York

2009-03-31T17:19:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I'll be teaching the first half of a cumulative four-hour workshop in commedia dell'arte movement at the City College of New York. It's a "Body Movement" class, taught by Suzi Takahashi, with whom I've worked before. This is the first time, however, that I've been a guest teacher for her in an actual movement studio, rather than a classroom. I'm also excited that I'll be teaching over two days, the second of which will be Monday. It means I'll be able to cover a lot of basics, and have the students process it and bring something of their own to the work.

The Last Stand

2009-03-20T09:13:00.003-04:00

This Monday I'll be participating in a private, developmental reading of Steve Smith's new script, The Last Stand. I've acted with Steve, in Criminals in Love, and acted in one of his scripts before, Legal Snarls. This script is along similar lines of send-up and comic rhythm, and should be a lot of fun. It's also only five characters, which makes for good production possibilities in New York showcases and small professional theaters. I'll be playing a shadowy visitor by the name of Gary who helps to stir the pot of this comic mystery.

Choreography: A Midsummer Night's Dream

2009-02-11T14:48:00.002-05:00

Thursday and Friday Heather Stuart and I will spend our afternoons teaching and choreographing fight sequences for North Pocono High's upcoming production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. We taught workshops through the school's theatre, Shakespeare and PE classes in October, and are very excited to be making a return; especially in such a fun context!

Workshop: Marywood University

2009-02-10T14:34:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow I return to Marywood University to fulfill the promise of my missed days teaching commedia dell'arte last August. My workshop will be about two hours long, and cover material based on my inclinations and the students' requests. They requested information on career management, In Bocca al Lupo and even some further acrobalance training. At first I wasn't sure how to consolidate all this, but my desires helped me find common ground, and I've created a brief curriculum called "Finding Balance." It will combine all these requests under the umbrella notion of finding balance between the artistic and the pragmatic in a career in the theatre. This is, in essence, what I've dedicated Odin's Aviary to the exploration of, so I'm thrilled to draw these strands together. The workshop will largely be discussion-oriented, but broken up with physical training to emphasize ideas and keep us in our bodies whilst learning.

Workshop: Griffin Conservatory

2009-02-09T13:55:00.004-05:00

This Tuesday evening, I'll be teaching a workshop in acrobalance at the Electric Theatre Company to fledgling actors in their Griffin Conservatory. I usually teach this workshop with my acro partner, Heather Stuart, but she has injured herself on our current show (see 2/4/09) so this one will be a little different. Acrobalance, at least the way I learned it, has always had a lot in common with the precepts of good acting, and this session will focus on those ideas as much as on the moves and physical conditioning.

Zuppa del Giorno: The Very Nearly Perfect Comedy of Romeo & Juliet

2009-02-04T13:34:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, a playwright of some modest ability took a scenario from the commedia dell'arte and gave it his own spin, turning it into a tragic love story so resonant it quickly became THE love story. Four hundred years later, the contemporary commedia dell'arte troupe Zuppa del Giorno irreverently returns "Romeo & Juliet" to its boisterous beginnings. Once again first love is fresh, foolish and funny, and with the help of classic commedia characters, a couple of red noses and a couple of Italian artists to boot, a roller-coaster of a comedy is ready to ride!

But will the troupe craft this classic to a comic conclusion, or will tragedy take its normally inevitable toll?

Previews begin Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 7:00pm

Closes Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 5:00pm

Electric Theatre Company

326 Spruce Street, 2nd Floor

Scranton, PA

Tickets 570/558-1515 - Office 570/558-1520

Work-In-Progress: Hereafter

2008-12-10T09:00:00.003-05:00

In exactly one week, on December 17 at 7:00 pm, I'll be having a private reading of a recently completed playscript of mine. The working title is Hereafter, and it is at this point a collection of intertwining short plays that concern themselves with the subject of death; or, more specifically, with the subject of what happens to everything we know now, after death. And it's funny. I hope.

You can read a little bit more about my writing process at this stage here. This reading is for revision purposes only, so there'll be no audience, but look for future news. Hopefully this will be productive, and I'll be posting about an invitational public reading sometime after February.

NYU: Steinberg Lab

2008-11-22T13:54:00.004-05:00

I'll be reading a sampling of several students' play-writing work this Monday as a part of the Steinberg Lab at Tisch. It's a mixed bag. The mystery prize. Will I be playing my age range? Will I even be playing my own sex? Let's see what's behind Door #1 . . .

BLUEPRINT: an assignment

2008-11-19T09:52:00.001-05:00

This Friday and Sunday I'll be appearing in a variety show curated by Melissa Riker and her company, Kinesis Dance Project, under the auspices of Six Figures Theatre's Artists of Tomorrow festival. I have all-new silent-film clowning (that means no red noses...maybe...) to showcase with my signature character, Lloyd Schlemiel. Lloyd is my guy for exploring the glee and occasional melancholy of the great silent-film comedians. Come on down and see what gets built!

BLUEPRINT: an assignment (take 2!)

8:00 PM - Friday November 21 & Sunday November 23

Produced by Six Figures Theater Company at The West End Theater

263 West 86th St., New York, NY 10024 (between Broadway and West End Ave.)

Kinesis Project dance theatre

{Madeline Hoak, Zoe Bowick & Melissa Riker}

Sharon Estacio

Patrick Lacey and

Jeff Wills

share the stage in the AOT Festival!

Tickets are $15

There is limited seating and this is a festival & performers that deserve support! Join us!

Buy tickets HERE.

Burning Leaves

2008-11-13T09:45:00.000-05:00

Back in July I did a developmental reading for Tom Rowan's play: Burning Leaves. This Sunday a revised version will open in a more fully realized staged reading as part of the Ensemble Studio Theatre's Octoberfest. The dates for the two performances are Sunday, November 16, at 5:00 PM, and Wednesday, November 19, at 9:00 PM. A new director, Gaye-Taylor Upchurch, will be on board and the performance will include some skeletal staging.

For those of you who couldn't make it out for the first reading, Burning Leaves is the story of a former New York actor just moved to middle America in order to teach high school drama. I'll be playing the teacher himself. The play is funny, sad and oh-so-very true. More details:

The Ensemble Studio Theatre

Octoberfest 2008

presents

A staged reading of Burning Leaves, a new play by Tom Rowan,

directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch with:

Kevin Confoy*, Abigail Gampel*, Allison Goldberg*, Hana Kalinski, Alexander Paul Nifong, and Jeff Wills*

Leaving behind the wreckage of his life in New York, Matt takes a job teaching at a small high school in the middle of nowhere. He desperately needs a fresh start, but a talented and troubled student makes his new life anything but simple. A new play by the author of Kiss and Cry, David's Play, and The Second Tosca. Two performances: Sunday, November 16, at 5:00 PM Wednesday, November 19, at 9:00 PM.

THE ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE

Second Floor Mainstage

549 West 52nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues)

Manhattan Reservations: 212-247-4982 x105

or e-mail to boxoffice@ensemblestudiotheatre.org

This is a free event; donations gratefully accepted.

NACL Theatre Benefit: The Visa Clinic, with Bond Street Theatre

2008-11-12T10:59:00.002-05:00

This Saturday evening I will be performing with Bond Street Theatre in a benefit for the North American Cultural Laboratory. It's an evening of variety and local, organic food, with all kinds of circus-y goodness. Just look at some of the folks performing:

Keith Bindlestiff (from The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus)
Jennifer Miller (from Circus Amok)
Strike Anywhere
Lollo Birgitta
The New York Neo-Futurists
The Hungry March Band

It's pretty thrilling for me, though we'll being doing something completely different: A send-up of the visa application process, a la Monty Python's The Argument Clinic. Come down and enjoy the sliding-scale admission to support a great company.

November 15th, 2008 7pm—11pm
The Lava Studio, 524 Bergen St, Brooklyn (directions)
$25—$75 (Sliding Scale)
Buy Tickets.

Zuppa del Giorno: North Pocono High School

2008-10-04T13:05:00.003-04:00

Zuppa del Giorno is all set to perform its first artist-in-residency assignment through the NEIU (no, the other one). From October 6th through 10th we'll be teaching at North Pocono High, and not just theatre, either. In addition to two theatre classes daily, we've added a Shakespeare class and a physical education one. The Shakespeare should be good practice for our upcoming production of The Very Nearly Perfect Comedy of Romeo & Juliet. The gym class . . . uh . . .. Well, let's just say that teaching acrobalance to teenagers is rarely boring.

Between Adults

2008-09-30T12:09:00.004-04:00

This Friday, at 8:00 pm, you can catch me in a reading of Josh Sohn's play-in-progress, Between Adults. The reading will be held in the lovely Montauk Club, in Brooklyn, and is free, free, free. So come on out, have yourself a Park Slope kind of Friday and enjoy seeing me play a very confused middle-aged man. Hey: boyish charm can only get you so far.

The promo email:
Brooklyn is the best borough, by far. That's generally accepted. But what you may not know, though it's proven by science and scientists, is that Brooklyn is the greatest place in the known universe when autumn is beginning. The air is fresh, the buildings are short and people are in a stupidly good mood. So why not make tomorrow evening a Park Slope evening? Have a nice dinner, window shop, admire architecture and fantasize about Walt Whitman.

The best part? I've got a free theatrical event for you to attend. That's right! Your entertainment decision/expense is covered! This Friday, October 3rd at 8 PM at the beautiful Montauk Club in Park Slope (View Larger Map'>25 8th Ave.), you can catch these folks:

Andrew Elliott
Chelsea O'Connor
Jennifer Gordon Thomas
&
Jeff Wills

in a staged reading of Between Adults, a play-in-progress by Josh Sohn. The reading will run about 90 minutes and there will be a short intermission, so please come and feel free to bring whomever. You deserve a change of scenery. You deserve free developmental theatre. Don't try to tell me I'm wrong. You deserve it. It's science.

NYU: Steinberg Lab

2008-09-25T09:30:00.003-04:00

I will once again be returning (with even more redundancy) to act for the undergraduate playwriting lab at NYU. This Monday, midday, the play we'll be putting on its feet (or, rather, on chair legs) will be Rebecca Ellis's DIZZY, a quirky drama of the complicated confusion that can arise when female puberty meets male mid-life crisis. I'll be playing a young aspiring priest, the new teacher at an all-girls Catholic school. But I'm not the one you have to watch out for . . .

NYU: Steinburg Lab

2008-09-19T13:07:00.002-04:00

This Monday, in addition to acting in an industrial, I will be participating in my first table reading of the new school year down at NYU. The reading is to help a playwright in their Steinberg Lab develop his (or her?) dramatic work, entitled The User Guide, and I will be playing the Guide, a somewhat mysterious figure who lives beneath the floorboards and reminds one of a butler. Michael Caine, I summon thee...

Industrial: Lancer Insurance

2008-09-18T09:47:00.002-04:00

This Monday morning I'll be actin' it up in a segment of Lancer Insurance's promotional video for top-shelf clients. I'll be playing a begrieved husband giving testimony about his wife's early demise as a result of a bus crash. (So, you know: cheery stuff.) Interestingly enough, I was located for this job through a site called ReelAct.com, and negotiated my own deal with the producer. As a result, I will have nothing but green M&Ms in my trailer (read: in my pocket, brought as they were by me).

NYU: Film Department

2008-09-16T10:32:00.002-04:00

This afternoon I'll be working a few hours at the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television with Denny Lawrence's directing students. It's only their third week of college, and we'll be running a mock first-read for them to teach how to communicate with actors, and what questions you can expect from them. Since you can't come to see me in this endeavor, I'll spill the surprise: I will be asking what color underwear they think my character wears.

La Vigilia (2)

2008-09-02T20:25:00.005-04:00

Come not see me in the show I'm understudying!

Direct from the International Fringe Festival
BOO-Arts Presents:
La Vigilia, by Vincent Marano
Directed by Kathleen O'Neill
at Manhattan Theatre Source
177 MacDougal Street (between Waverly and 8th Street)
Performances – Wednesday to Saturday, Sept 3 through the 20th, 2008
Tickets $18; Reservations 212-501-4751 Group Sales - 917-776-7218
Advance Tickets at Theatermania.com or 212-352-3101
More information www.theatresource.org or www.boo-arts.com

The Portal Project: The Betrothed

2008-08-30T21:17:00.004-04:00

The Electric Theatre Company (formerly The Northeast Theatre) teamed up with Marywood University's theatre department a little over a year ago to collaborate on productions and education. Last year we trained their students in public performance and cast some of them in our original production, Prohibitive Standards. This year, we trained them in our unique brand of contemporary commedia dell'arte, and they will be performing at the Scranton Italian festival.

Come see the original commedia dell'arte scenario, The Betrothed, to be performed August 31 at 4:00 and September 1 at 1:00 and 4:00. It will contain a lot of my teaching, a bit of my direction, and all my love for our incredible students.

La Vigilia (1)

2008-08-11T21:13:00.000-04:00

Come not see me in the show I'm understudying!

BOO-Arts and TeatrOscuro

Present:

LA VIGILIA (THE VIGIL)

Directed by

Kathleen O’Neill

with

James Michael Armstong* Victoria Bundonis*

Micheal Black* Ridley Parson

Elka Rodriguez

Asst. Director Stage Manager Lights/Costume Design Sound Design

Gabi Radenwz John Michael Crotty Will Lowry Lisa Ien DeNio

The Connelly Theater

220 E. 4^th Street, between Ave A & B

Wednesday, August 13 @ 3:00pm

Thursday, August 14 @ 9:45pm

Sunday, August 17 @ 4:30pm¹

Wednesday, August 20 @ 5:30pm

Saturday, August 23 @ 7:15pm

Go to http://www.fringenyc.org/ or http://www.nytheatre.com/ for more details.

"Let no one who loves be called altogether unhappy; even love unreturned has its rainbow." Eaton Stannard Barret

Does true love have an expiration date? When a stranger enters the lives of three lonely people, whose heart will mend and whose will break? Inspired by Goldoni and DaSica,

La Vigilia is a madcap minestrone of love and passion rediscovered.

Sparks & Feathers

2008-07-20T22:11:00.002-04:00

Come see me in dual roles at the launch of The Northeast Theatre's rebranding into Electric Theatre Company! Sparks & Feathers is a gala affair that will feature many attractions, amongst which I will be performing as...

Chico Marx, as a part of the rambunctious walkabout antics of the complete Marx Bros.; and
One half a pair of domino-style acrobats performing acrobalance to the musical stylings of Cuban Tres.

Burning Leaves

2008-07-20T21:58:00.002-04:00

Come see me play a confounded former actor -- now a high school "drama" teacher -- who's left New York to make something (else) of his life. It's the lead role! This new play by Tom Rowan premieres July 21st at the Roy Arias studios. Seating is limited!

Jump

2008-07-14T21:46:00.001-04:00

Come see me play a carpenter with philosophical aspirations in Jump, by Josh Sohn, July 26th and 27th as a part of the Strawberry One-Act Festival.

STRAWBERRY ONE ACT FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

July 24 through August 3, 2008 @

The Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue, NYC. Entrance on 25^th Street (between Lexington Avenue & 3^rd Avenue).

Click here for tickets.

Series C
Saturday, July 26^th & Sunday, July 27^th at 1pm. Click here to pay to view this series online July 27th.

JUMP by Josh Sohn
Jump is a short comedic play about miracles and transformation.

Industrial: Canon

2008-06-30T09:47:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow I go on my first job acquired through Dream Weavers Management: an industrial featuring 3-D video technology, to be shown at a Canon conference. I'll be playing a businessman, demonstrating something. I don't know what I'll be demonstrating, but I'll try to convince them of letting me demonstrate a kick-ass backbend.

Corporate Workshop: Marywood University

2008-06-25T22:21:00.001-04:00

Join Zuppa del Giorno for the first of what will hopefully be many workshops we teach on corporate team-building and collaborative techniques on the Marywood campus, June 26. We'll be conducting a four-hour workshop featuring improvisation games and discussions about what it is to communicate effectively and how that parley that into profound collaboration.

Zuppa del Giorno: L'Amore e' Mazzo, ma Buona

2008-06-08T07:54:00.002-04:00

Come to Italy to see me perform! On June 14th, I will be performing an original piece developed by Zuppa del Giorno for Il Teatro che Cammina, a street-theatre festival set in lovely Castel San Pietro. The piece will be about a couple through their life together, and how they rediscover the joy of their youth.

American Whup-Ass

2008-06-01T15:55:00.002-04:00

Join me June 2nd at The Players Theatre at 7:00 pm, where I will be reprising my role as Terry Bowen, wünderkind political advisor and all-around sneaky guy, in Justin Warner's original satire, American Whup-Ass.

Laugh Out Loud

2008-05-26T16:16:00.002-04:00

May 27th and 28th I will be performing two of my original clown pieces as a part of Emerging Artists Theatre's clown and variety festival: Laugh Out Loud. In the first night, I'll premiere my solo clown piece featuring my silent film clown, Lloyd Schlemiel. On the second, Heather Stuart and I will perform our original clown duet, Death + a Maiden. Both shows start at 7:30 pm, and both feature many other experienced clowns, buffoons and puppeteers. You'd be crazy to miss it!

NYU: Film Department

2008-05-22T16:35:00.001-04:00

This Friday I will be working with Denny Lawrence at NYU, helping his film students realize their dreams of having to block scenes very, very efficiently.

The Elephant Song

2008-05-17T16:44:00.002-04:00

Join me this Sunday for a staged reading of The Elephant Song, by Nicolas Billon. It will be playing at 6:00 pm at The Workshop Theatre Company, right in the heart of midtown. The Elephant Song is a taught and funny psychological thriller, in which I play a seemingly psychotic young man. So, you know: type casting.

Corporate Carnival

2008-05-13T17:12:00.003-04:00

Join me as I stilt-walk my way into the hearts and minds of literally dozens, performing in The Women's Project's 2008 public show, Corporate Carnival. Corporate Carnival will be performed in the heart of the World Financial Center for four days, opening May 14th and closing after three shows on May 17th. It's funny, it's zany, it's circus on Wall Street!